Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has quashed proceedings under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, against two accused in a property dispute, holding that the essential ingredients of the alleged offences were not prima facie established.
Justice Abhay J. Mantri was hearing a criminal writ petition filed by the accused seeking the quashing of an FIR alleging that they and others had demolished a corrugated iron compound wall on property in the complainant’s possession, used caste-based slurs and issued threats.
The petitioners argued that the dispute was civil in nature, pointing out that one of them had purchased the property from the complainant’s brother in June 2020 and that a civil suit concerning the property was pending.
The court examined witness statements and noted that the complainant’s wife and sons had supported the allegations of caste-based abuse. However, an independent witness who had allegedly seen the compound wall being demolished had not stated that caste-based slurs were used.
Relying on the Supreme Court’s ruling in Hitesh Verma v. State of Uttarakhand, the High Court held that the material on record did not prima facie establish that the alleged incident occurred in a place within public view, a key requirement for the offences under Sections 3(1)(r) and 3(1)(s) of the SC/ST Act.
The court also held that the offence under Section 3(2)(va) of the Act was not made out against the petitioners.
However, it found prima facie material to proceed with allegations under Sections 143, 149, 427, 504 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.
Accordingly, the court partly allowed the petition, quashing the proceedings under Sections 3(1)(r), 3(1)(s) and 3(2)(va) of the SC/ST Act while directing that proceedings relating to the remaining alleged offences continue in accordance with law.
The case was titled Shri Nisar Mohammed Pathan v. State of Maharashtra, Criminal Writ Petition No. 3490 of 2022.
